The Dog Days in Delhi

The five members of the team who arrived the morning after the rest of us (Chad, Christy, Lindsey, Joel and Jordan) received their luggage the same day they arrived (just a quick update for any worried parents).

Saturday was my (Anna Grace's) birthday. They surprised me with pizza and cheesecake. They even got magic relighting candles (which never relit). (: It was a great 21st birthday here in India.

Sunday we went to some of our friends home to learn about storying. We learned two stories from Mark 5; The healing of a man with a evil spirit and the healing of a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. The third story was from Mark 6 where He feeds the five thousand.

It is a great way to share wondrous truths about Him. After we learned the stories the girls all got henna depicting the different stories. Now when we get to I-town we can easily share the stories when the Indian girls ask about our henna.

Monday we went to a meat market. It was an experience, to say the least.

Lindsey next to some goats(?).

Jared and Joel with some goat heads.

Today we had our 'big fat Indian scavenger hunt!' We went out and had conversations with people, hit some important sites (like the India Gate and Old Delhi), and visited some temples and a Mosque. We came back with some stories and a better understanding of what our time in Indian is going to look like.

Aubrey and Abbie with some children in front of the India Gate.

Joel, Lindsey and Jared at the Lodi Temple.

We have been getting briefed for our time in I-town these past few days. Please pr@y that we will be prepared as we leave tomorrow. That we will be lights in this dark country, for us to meet new friends, and for our team to be more and more united in spirit and purpose as this journey continues.

Everyone has Arrived!

Good news, everyone has arrived in India! Our team got split up because our flight from Charlotte to Chicago was cancelled due to tornadoes. It was a little crazy, but thankfully we figured out a way for our entire team to get to Delhi.

About half the team arrived last night and the the rest (Chad & Christy, Joel, Jordan, and Lindsey) just arrived about an hour ago. If you read this in the next few hours, pr@y for the people that just got here. They have also not gotten their bags yet. They should be here this afternoon some time on the next flight to Delhi.

This afternoon we're going to get some Indian food for lunch and then head over to the market to shop for kurtas. I'm looking forward to getting out in the city and trying to remember the 10 Hindi phrases I used last summer! :)

Keep checking back for updates. You should be hearing from some other members of our group soon! Thank you for your pr@yers!

Poor Jared, he was so tired I just had to capture it with a picture!

We flew over Greenland in the middle of our 14 hour flight to Delhi!

Summer Link India Preparations

This weekend, we had our Summer Link India retreat to prepare for six weeks in India! There will be 3 staff members and 9 students traveling to India from June 23rd-August 4th.

We had a blast hanging out together, laughing, playing catch phrase, water skiing, and wake boarding. Team leader Chad Ferrell did an excellent job of opening God's Word and teaching on the gospel in Ephesians 2 and how to engage the culture as seen in Acts 17. We also spent time practicing 2-3 minute testimonies and learning more about Hinduism. It is our hope that this weekend helped prepare students as they have to cope with cultural differences and culture shock in India.

Above everything else, we emphasized to our students the importance of walking with God before they leave for India and while they are in India. The best way to overcome culture shock and the American ethnocentrism so inherent to our natures is to be saturated with the truth of the gospel. We want our students to be humble learners of the culture and to engage the millions of lost people in India with the gospel through tears of compassion.

In preparing to leave for India, I have been reading through Acts. One of my favorite passages in Acts is Acts 20:19-24,
"You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."


Please join with me in pr@ying that our students would serve the Lord in all humility, even in the face of fear, cultural differences, and persecutions. Pray that like Paul, we would speak in boldness being constrained and directed by the Holy Spirit. Pray that we would not account our lives as having any value if only we may finish the course and ministry we have received from Jesus to testify to the gospel.

If you would like to stay updated with our group over the summer, check out our blog at: http//summerlinkindia.blogspot.com.

Our whole team! Front row: Jenna, Christy, Chad; Back row: Anna Grace, Corey, Jared, Sean, Joel, Aubrey, Abbie, Lindsey, and Jordan

Summer Link India 2011 is Underway!

This weekend, the 2011 Summer Link India team had their first meeting! We discussed why we want to go to India and other important matters like our favorite smells. We are happy to have 10 students (5 girls and 5 guys) traveling to India along with 3 staff members. I think I can say for each person that we are incredibly excited to be going! Please pr@y for the students as they raise support in the next 2 months. Check back here throughout the summer to hear about our adventures from various students and staff members!

Back in Clemson

Hey everyone,

I know the Summer Link ended August 5, with life being hectic, I am only now writing.

I wanted to thank you all for following us on the blog. Your support has meant more than you know to us. Thank you for all of your pr@yers. Thank you for the financial support. Thank you parents for sending your children.

This summer has been successful all around. We accomplished everything we wanted to on this trip. Praise be to God. This summer has left a meaningful impact on the people of India, to our team, and to everyone who has joined our team in support and prayer.

This was indeed a challenging summer--physically, spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. Each day we pushed ourselves to do the work the Word has called us to do. Each day we sought God. And truly, He is faithful to His Word.

We had a great tour seeing Delhi, Indore, Ujjain, Agra, Bhopal, and a village. We have a better understanding of India in the sense of culture, history, religion, and geography. There were many fun stories and events that took place. With that said, there were many challenges as well.

We had a great team that went to India. No one could ask for a better team. They stepped up to the plate and knocked the ball out of the park. They pushed hard and pushed each other. They grew in the Word, they grew in living life together, they grew in living out the Gospel. They now come back with the challenge of taking what they've learned to home, school, and work. Continue to pr@y for them in transition times.

And to all of you who supported and prayed, you are a part of this success. Rejoice for we serve a faithful Lord.

Heath

"I'm leavin'...on a jet plane"

Yes, we are ALL coming home...in case some of you were worried! It's been an amazing summer for each one of us. I know everyone is eager to share with you our experiences as well as hear about how your summers have been. Today was a completely free day for everyone, but somehow we all managed to stick together! We went to see Inception at the theater at 11am, enjoyed a nice lunch at TGIFridays, and shopped at a local market. I've included some pictures below from our past few days. Here is our flight schedule, Lord-willing:)
Leave Delhi on American Airlines flight 293 at 12:15am (August 5)
Arrive in Chicago Ohare at 5:00am (August 5)
Leave Chicago on AA flight 3844 at 8:00am (August 5)
Arrive in ATL at 10:50am (Aug 5)
We should arrive back in Clemson between 2:00-3:00pm Thursday.

Taking the gondola up to the top of the mtn in B-town

(notice Burk's face)

Mary Liz, Lauren, Abbie, Molly, Burk, and Emily looking out over B-town

Playing UNO while waiting on our train in B-town

The guys dancing

(this is the dance they have been working on secretly for 3 weeks)

Delhi Days

Hey y'all, the days are dwindling down. On Sunday we had the morning to pack and then we headed to the bus station. We had some of our friends take us to the station and some more met us there to say goodbye. It was so awesome to see all the relationships that we have created while in B-town. It was a long 8 hour ride to New Delhi. During that time Walker had a guy walk past him and give him a little one year old girl and walk away(turns out he went to the bathroom). They both got really attached to each other and spent a lot of the time together on the train.

Today was our debriefing time. We got together with the team early this morning until lunch. We were able to evaluate the program, for good and for improvement, and was a valuable time to spend with the team. We then had our banquet at Hard Rock Cafe. It was awesome to get some red meat in us, even though it was buffalo. We had a projector set up and had a slide show of pictures from the entire trip. There were some good laughs, which continued into our superlative awards ceremony. Afterwards we had a few hours to ourselves to spend time in the Word and in prayer. It was a good relaxing time to also reflect on the questions from the debriefing. We then had some pizza for dinner followed by some story telling time of good experiences during our stay here. The guys then performed their own choreographed dance that they prepared secretly from the girls.

Just another chill day of traveling through the city.

Cool little chairs the girls found while going to Hard Rock Cafe.

Walker and the girl he met on the train.